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Updated information on bills to eliminate salary schedule for teachers

Several ATPE members have inquired about the status of bills attempting to eliminate the state minimum salary schedule for teachers. The bills are Senate Bill 893 by Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) and House Bill 2543 by Rep. Marsha Farney (R-Georgetown). ATPE is opposed to both bills.

SB 893 by Sen. Seliger relates to public school teacher performance appraisals, continuing education, professional development, career advancement, and compensation. The bill was heard by the Senate Education Committee on March 19. During that hearing, ATPE testified against the bill. Read more about that hearing here. The Senate Education Committee favorably voted out a substitute version of the bill on March 24. The committee substitute changed language in the bill pertaining to student and teacher performance and attempted to ensure that state standardized tests would not be the only measure of student performance used in a state or district developed teacher appraisal system. However, ATPE believes that the bill still overemphasizes the role of “objective” student performance measures. The full Senate amended and then passed SB 893 on April 7. The vote was 27-4, with Democratic Sens. Rodney Ellis, Eddie Lucio, Jose Menendez, and Royce West opposing the bill. The Senate rejected a floor amendment by Sen. Menendez that attempted to restore the minimum salary schedule for teachers in the bill. SB 893 has been sent to the House for consideration.

HB 2543 by Rep. Farney is the House companion bill also relating to public school teacher performance appraisals, continuing education, professional development, career advancement, and compensation. HB 2543 was identical to SB 893 at the time of filing. The House Public Education Committee heard HB 2543 on Tuesday, April 7, and ATPE testified against it. The bill was left pending while the author considers possible amendments to the bill.

Stay tuned to Teach the Vote for updates about both of these bills as developments occur. In the meantime, we encourage ATPE members to keep contacting their state representatives and urging them to oppose these bills as they move through the Texas House. Click here for additional information about SB 893 and HB 2543 to share with your legislators.

14 thoughts on “Updated information on bills to eliminate salary schedule for teachers”

Need a link to directly contact the committee chairs to let them know just what travesty these bills are to the future of the most important state in the USA. God bless Texas! #ProudTeacher #AmazingStudents #LoveMyJob #LoveMySchool

I am an educator and proud parent of three boys. I am ashamed that our senators would even consider this. Why would you want to get rid of our pay scale? Don’t you know that most teachers work more than 40 hours a week? Teachers work well past three everyday, weekends, and summers too! I love it when people say we don’t. I don’t know when I am not learning something new to use in class, grading papers, making projects, going to training, or trying figure out away to reach a student. Teachers also do more than teach. We parent, nurse, counsel, and help produce a society for the future. Testing doesn’t measure all of what our children learn nor does it tell what all our teachers teach. Sometimes I think everyone would understand it better if they would spend one week in a classroom with 20 plus kids. Most teachers will gladly tell you we do not teach for the money. But really? Without teachers senators would not be senators. Lawyers would not be lawyers. And so forth. Please keep speaking up about this issue.

Why do our legislators want to persecute educators!
There is absolutely no Logical reason to eliminate established teacher pay schedules that are at best outdated and underfunded. But at least these outdated standards establish a standard. Now the Senate wants to eliminate and reduce pay standards to an even lower amount. Shame on you. How does this improve Texas Public School education? I wish our legislators had courage to do what is right rather than just bow down to those who want to disparage our children and their future. Reducing the opportunity to have a Fair and Appropriate Public Education for ALL of our children hurts our entire society.

Why? I invite you, Senator, to come into my classroom. I am responsible for our future. I am appalled that you would even think my degree (and I have 2 – a Bachelor’s and a Masters degree), are irrelevant. Such so that you would even considering lowering my paycheck to an unreasonable salary. Please reconsider this very bad decision.

I am just amazed that we educators are going to be treated like Salem witches…although the careers are not comparable, the way that we are being treated right now is. I am very sorry to inform you dear legislators that just them, we lack magical powers. Instead, we pour our hearts and minds in our classrooms.I hope you reconsider this decision.

My wife is a hard-working teacher, and she has been without a meaningful pay-rise for a long time, as she has already reached the apex of the salary scale. She is a highly dedicated professional, and many students have thanked her for the effort that she makes to both inform and educate them.

I would implore the legislators to take a long, hard look at this bill, and see this disingenuous and mean-spirited agenda for what it is!

Legislators / Educators: The unanswered question for me is what incubated this legislation and what is the upside / projected dividend is it supposed to yield with its passage?

We never seem to be able to find resources sufficient to adequately educate this demographic at age 10, yet always seem to find enough to incarcerate them at age 20.

Examine. – on average – how long we retain new teachers, then examine the reasons for the rate of turnover / attrition. If our budget is a reflection of our priorities, what is the message we are sending regarding the extent or depth we value quality public education ?

Examine / reduce recalcitrance in the classroom. Look at its costs. Do we not force teachers to tolerate and endure deviant , disruptive behavior yet still expect them to produce a quality education product throughout the class day. It steals teaching time from teachers and learning time from students. It’s not fair to either and, costs the system in lost productivity for both.

These behaviors are taught, tolerated or both. I teach, and I teach well. However hitting the ‘learning target’ is made difficult to impossible if we are ‘shooting in a wind storm of disruptive behavior.

We need not concentrate / quarantine the behavior problems in the current AEP environment. Instead, remand those students to the custody of their parents after the official roll is taken for the day. We would do the same if a child was physically sick as their continued presence would have inimical and diliterious effect on the learning community.

I think that when teachers become as concerned about teaching as the legislators are about paying them, then I think the problem will resolve itself. And, while the problem is being resolved, the legislators should be paid in accordance with the test scores of the welfare recipients from whom they garnish their votes. Face the facts teachers, form a union and fix the problem.

The problem with the union idea of Dr. Mendoza’s is that our legislators made it illegal for teachers in Texas to be part of a union and collective bargain and, unlike politicians, teachers are usually the decent and moral people who don’ go out and break the law.

I am a parent and have enough issue with the standardized testing my kids have to prepare for their entire school life. To solely base a teachers worth off of how well a child does in school (lets be honest the testing) is insane. Teachers are with our children longer than we are weekly, they can only do so much on their side and we as parents SHOULD be doing our part. Learning doesn’t stop when school is out it continues. Teachers do so much on so little as it is, why would you want to do something that could keep good people out of schools teaching children teaching the future of us all. I will be spreading the word to vote against you and this bill, this is INSANE